Collecting Snuff Bottles - the Beginning Impressions from my childhood often led to fascinations as an adult. My grandmother Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of one of the rich and powerful men of Hong Kong at the turn of the 20 century. His reputation as a collector was a legend in Hong Kong's antique row. How much of his enthusiasm of collecting was transferred to his beloved daughter, I would not know. I would like to think selling pieces of her collection and my grandfather's sustained them through the dark years of World War II. When the war was over and I was old enough to remember, not much was left. But two snuff bottles, both carved, one rose quartz and the other amethyst were kept in a beautifully carved Black Wood cabinet (highly prized by Cantonese) along with the crystal and silver. Young children were not allowed to touch antiques, and I never held the bottles in my hands. But I confess I used to hang out around the Black Wood cabinet when the amahs need